A Hawkesbury animal rescue group says it is seeing an increased demand for its services amid an increase in the number of abandoned cats across eastern Ontario.
Patricia Bracelin, who owns and operates Operation Spay and Neuter in Hawkesbury, Ont., told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron that she’s unable to keep up with the demand from residents reporting cat colonies spreading.
The animal rescue has been offering low-cost spay and neuter services for animals since 2012. Bracelin says many adopted cats during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the lifting of restrictions led to many choosing to give up their pets with the high costs of food and veterinary care for animals.
She says the increase in people abandoning pets has turned some parts of Hawkesbury into a “dumping ground” for abandoned pets.
“We’ve been getting way more calls than normal over the past two years,” Bracelin said.
“Four people have reached out just this week regarding cat colonies with 20 to 30 cats per colony.”
Bracelin says she’s asking municipalities to look into providing more support for low-income households to spay and neuter their pets to reduce the financial burden the services put on low-income families.
“Those pets are not sterilized so, of course, they’re having babies and we just can’t keep up with the demand,” she said.
The Ottawa Humane Society has also reported a surge in cats, dogs and other animals being taken in this year. The shelter said it took in 21 homeless kittens from the Windsor/Essex County Humane Society to assist them with a “capacity crisis” last month.
The shelter also saw an unseasonably high surge of pets being taken in during the normally slow adoption season last winter.
The Humane Society has paused its mobile spay and neuter services for Ottawa cats to meet the needs of the animals in their care. The City of Ottawa is also seeing high levels of demand for its spay and neutering services.
As of Friday there were 28 cats and 12 dogs available for adoption on the Ottawa Humane Society’s website.